he will say, barack obama made a lot of promises in 2008. he hasn't kept those promises. they don't worry about their guy being likeable. they say the key is to day on offense. the other battle over the plans for the next four years, that's where obam will be tough on romney saying he wants to give tax cuts to the wealthy and to voucherrize medicare. romney will say he is the defender of the middle class. one thing both sides say this, could get heated tonight. >> we go to jim lehrer of pbs, moderating this debate. >> jim: i'm jim lehrer. i welcome you to the first of the 2012 presidential debates, between president barack obama, the democratic nominee, and former massachusetts governor, mitt romney, the republican nominee. this debate and the next three, two presidential, one vice-presidential, are sponsored by the commission on presidential debates. tonight's 90 minutes will be about domestic issues and will follow a format designed by the commission. there will be six roughly 15-minute segments, with two-minute answers for the first question. then open discussion for t